55w fog light bulb in place of 35w stock?

[va1644]

i have a 01' 530 and like the subj says i would like to use 55w fog light bulb in place of 35w stock. Not because i want to use a higher wattage but there is no 35 watt replacement bulb that recreates a "white" color, closely correlated with HID's. I def dont want them that bright, to the point where i will be getting pulled over. If anyone knows if the wattage jump will have any detrimental effects on the car please let me know. The link provided is the bulb that i wanted to purchase. Thanks in advance

[edjack]

How did you determine that yours are 35 W?
Ed in San Jose. BMW CCA member since 1987 (Nr. 62319). Golden Gate Chapter. '97 540i 6 speed. Build Date 3/97. Aspensilber over Aubergine leather.

[Crusader]

[Craig in Canada]

I've seen enough pictures of people who melted or deformed their housings to recommend against it. There's also the issue of the wiring and LCM.

If I wanted to rant about it, I'd also say that fog lights should be on only when it's foggy. When it's foggy you want longer wavelength light to cut through the fog instead of scatter in the fog and blind you. Matching your HIDs is of little importance. For this, even traditional halogen light is a little white/blue to be most effective. I have some Euro-origin Philips AllWeather / WeatherPlus dichroic coated bulbs (i.e. the real deal, not just dipped in a yellow coating) in my fogs and they give a yellow-tinge light which is very effective in low visibility situations.

...but I don't want to rant about it. That's just what I'd say if I did...

[edjack]

Ed in San Jose. BMW CCA member since 1987 (Nr. 62319). Golden Gate Chapter. '97 540i 6 speed. Build Date 3/97. Aspensilber over Aubergine leather.

[Craig in Canada]

[BG]

He is right, for fog and drizzle, you want longer wavelengths. Some of you may recall when cars registered in France had yellow headlights, probably for the better results in fog and low-contrast conditions.

Here in Mississippi, people drive with their fog lights blazing on bright clear nights. Then on foggy mornings so dense you can't see two car lengths ahead, during the morning commute, they have no lights on whatsoever.

[Craig in Canada]

That's exactly the bulb type I'm running in my fogs. I can't find a product page at Philips any more, though.

The bulbs don't look very yellow when they're off but they cast a certain spectrum of yellow light when on because of the interference coating on the bulbs. They were sold by Philips in all kinds of sizes (including for the main beams) as "AllWeather" and "WeatherVision" (I had it wrong in my last post).

[juststeve]

I think PIAA makes them for both cars(early & late). They draw 50-55 watts each.
I thought I read somewhere that the lens focal distance was designed to operate with original wattage bulbs. Brighter bulbs don't necessarily put more lumens on the road, but instead cause an unusable bright spot in the middle.

[ExAlfa]

and KMart has 'em.